Significant Objects

Drawing on the rich sense of history of thrift store objects, Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn founded SignificantObjects.com. The site is a collaborative experiment pairing cheap thrift store/yard sale finds with creative writers who create a unique personality for it. Items include cat figurines printed with chilis (above left), ceramic hot dogs (above right), smiling coffee mugs and buttons lauding professional "necking." These random objects, once imbued with their fictional significance, are posted to eBay to test if that significance translates to an increase in perceived value.

With the literary chops of Luc Sante, Kurt Andersen, Lucinda Rosenfeld, Ben Greenman, Curtis Sittenfeld and more imagining the vivid and immersing tales, the project mixes consummate storytelling with found obects. All net profits from the sales go directly to the authors in what may be the first pay scale for writers based on emotional impact.